Residents Discuss Concerns About Hudson Tunnel Project

February 07, 2018

Several dozen residents of North Bergen and surrounding municipalities attended a community meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 30 to discuss the upcoming Hudson Tunnel Project. The meeting was sponsored by NJ Transit and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to inform the public about details of the project, including scheduling and mitigation measures being put in place to reduce impact to local residents.

The project aims to create a new rail tunnel from North Bergen into Manhattan to supplement the existing tunnel, which is over 100 years old and in urgent need of full reconstruction to repair damage from Superstorm Sandy.

The new tunnel will begin just west of Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen and pass beneath the Palisades and the Hudson River. Construction is scheduled to begin in March 2019 and finish in December 2026. Rehabilitation of the existing tunnel would then begin in January 2027 and run through December 2030.

At the meeting, residents raised concerns about noise, dust, and traffic, among other issues. To address these concerns, residences above the construction and along the truck route will be provided with new sound-reducing windows, and vibration will be monitored during construction. Other mitigation initiatives will be implemented as well, and additional plans are being formulated.